A woman in Iowa is quickly learning the joys of parenthood after giving birth to a rare pair of twins. Shelby Magnani didn’t have much time to prepare though, as she wasn’t aware that she was expecting until about six months into the pregnancy.
For some women, pregnancy can be a surprise until the later stages.
A woman in Iowa is quickly learning about the joys of parenthood after giving birth to a rare pair of twins. Shelby Magnani didn’t have much time to prepare though, as she wasn’t aware that she was expecting until about six months into the pregnancy.
It all started when she went to a walk-in clinic complaining of stomach pains. Doctors informed her they suspected she was pregnant.
Soon after, Magnani arrived at the Emergency Room. An ultrasound was performed and showed she was carrying not one, but two babies.
Dr. Jennifer Krupp remarked “About one to two percent of all pregnancies are twins but even rarer than that is monoamniotic twins. They have one placenta and one amniotic sac and both of those twins share the placenta as well as the sac.”
Monoamniotic twins have an estimated 50 percent survival rate. There is the possibility of the cords getting entangled, which can lead to severe complications during birth.
Magnani and her fiancé James Croskey welcomed their daughters on Thursday. Named Ava and Anna, they were delivered via a C-section and weighed four and three pounds.
They're doing great and are expected to be perfectly fine in the long run. Although the pregnancy was a surprise for the couple, they seem to be thrilled to have two little miracles to call their own.